The first issue to analyze from this verse is that of 30 plus 10 equaling 40. In verse 51 of Surah Baqarah (chapter 2 of the Holy Quran), Almighty Allah (SWT) speaks about 40 nights:
وَإِذْ وَاعَدْنَا مُوسَىٰ أَرْبَعِينَ لَيْلَةً
“And when We appointed a time of forty nights with Musa…”
According to Afosa.org, the immediate question that arises is, what is the difference between these two verses? Why does Almighty Allah (SWT) express 40 in two different ways ie. 30 plus 10 in the earlier verse and then 40 outright in this verse?
Was the will of Almighty Allah (SWT) first 30 nights, and then He decided midway to add another 10 nights? Indeed, it is very difficult to imagine Almighty Allah (SWT) doing this. We human beings normally change our plans due to ignorance or new information, which emerges.
A good example in our current time is the government-imposed lockdowns, which got re-evaluated constantly and extended, as new information came to light. Now, when Almighty Allah (SWT) changes the plan, it is not due to His ignorance or new information coming to light. This is quite an interesting point to reflect on.
This is a critical point on Tauheed in our Islamic ideology, and in the attributes of Almighty Allah (SWT). Changes in His plans are not the result of ignorance or new information. Almighty Allah (SWT) already knows since He is All-knowing. Instead, it is His hikmah (wisdom) which demands that a particular command must come in a particular time, and then He changes that while in the situation.
Almighty Allah (SWT) already knows before the situation, that it will first be the command of 30 days, and then it will be a command to add another 10 days. It is not as if He did not know and hence first gave 30 days and then changed it to 40 days.
So, based on His full knowledge and wisdom, the proclamation of this command comes in 2 stages. This is similar to the approach of a doctor, who prescribes you medication for let us say one week. He/she then says to the patient to come back after a week and commands a new medication since the previously prescribed medication is no longer needed, based on the progress made. It does not mean that the doctor did not know. The doctor knew fully upfront, but this was the doctor’s plan to prescribe in a staggered fashion.
